Bodily fluid-component analyzing apparatus

Abstract

An integrated bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus includes a main body, a lancet holder connected to the main body so as to be movable back and forth along a predetermined movement path, a lancet removably attached to the lancet holder, and a test strip that is removably attached to the main body and is used to measure a component of the bodily fluid flowing from a pricked site of the living body pricked with the lancet. The movement path of the lancet holder and a bodily fluid inlet of the test strip face a specific position that is in a vicinity of the main body and at which the pricked site is to be placed. The apparatus further includes a pressing section that presses a portion of the living body adjacent to the pricked site so as to cause the bodily fluid to flow from the pricked site.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An integrated bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus that obtains a sample of a bodily fluid by pricking a living body with a lancet and measures a component of the sample of the bodily fluid, the apparatus comprising:
 a main body; 
 a lancet holder that is connected to the main body so as to be movable back and forth along a predetermined movement path relative to the main body; 
 a guide movably connecting the main body and the lancet holder, wherein the guide is configured to move the lancet holder in relation to the main body between a pressing position at which a surface of the lancet holder presses a portion of the living body adjacent to a pricked site and a retracted position at which the surface of the lancet holder is separated away from the living body adjacent to the pricked site; 
 an elastic member configured to urge the lancet holder in a direction away from the specific position relative to the main body; 
 a lancet that is removably attached to the lancet holder; and 
 a test strip that is removably attached to the main body by a connector and that is used to measure the component of the bodily fluid flowing from a pricked site of the living body pricked with the lancet, wherein the connector holds the test strip still at a predetermined position relative to the main body before, during, and after the movement of the lancet holder between the pressing position and the retracted position, 
 wherein the movement path of the lancet holder and a bodily fluid inlet of the test strip face a specific position that is in a vicinity of the main body and at which the pricked site of the living body is to be placed, and wherein the surface of the lancet holder is configured to press a portion of the living body adjacent to the pricked site so as to cause the bodily fluid to flow from the pricked site. 
 
     
     
       2. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the surface configured to press a portion of the living body is an end surface of the lancet holder facing the specific position. 
     
     
       3. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the end surface of the lancet holder facing the specific position surrounds a portion of the lancet. 
     
     
       4. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a biasing element that keeps the lancet retracted in a direction away from the specific position relative to the main body after the lancet has pricked the pricked site of the living body. 
 
     
     
       5. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a protrusion configured to position the pricked site of the living body at the specific position, 
 wherein the protrusion is disposed so as to correspond to a portion of the living body that is outside a blood flow path between a heart and the pricked site of the living body. 
 
     
     
       6. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the protrusion is attachable to and removable from the main body. 
 
     
     
       7. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the protrusion comes into contact with a portion of the living body located on a distal side of the pricked site. 
 
     
     
       8. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the main body is sized so as to allow a subject, as the living body, to grip the main body with one hand, and 
 wherein the lancet holder is disposed so as to be moved by a thumb of the one hand along the predetermined path relative to the main body. 
 
     
     
       9. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 8 ,
 wherein, when the subject grips the main body with one hand and the thumb of the one hand is in contact with the lancet holder, a specific finger of the one hand other than the thumb is placed at the specific position in the vicinity of the main body. 
 
     
     
       10. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 8 ,
 wherein the main body includes a measurement circuit for measuring the component of the bodily fluid by using the test strip, and 
 wherein an indicator, which indicates a status or a result of measurement of the component of the bodily fluid performed by the measurement circuit, is disposed on a part of an outer surface of the main body toward which the lancet holder is to be pressed by the thumb. 
 
     
     
       11. The bodily-fluid-component analyzing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a bottom element that allows the main body to be placed on a flat surface and that is removably attached to or integrated with the main body, 
 wherein, when the main body is placed on the flat surface via the bottom element, the specific position, which is in the vicinity of the main body and at which the pricked site of the living body is to be placed, is at the same height from the flat surface as a specific finger of a hand that is placed on the flat surface.